NOS Sport•
Nienke Brinkman has crowned her return after a year of injuries with a third place at the Egmond half marathon. The women’s victory went to Florence Niyonkuru. Among the men, Haymanot Alew from Ethiopia was the strongest, Stan Niesten came third.
Brinkman ran a time of 1.11.28. She arrived just under a minute after winner Niyonkuru. The 27-year-old athlete from Rwanda took the lead early on and opened up a large gap with her pursuers in the final phase. She finished the winter classic in a time of 1.10.38.
Brinkman was again plagued by injuries last year. She made her comeback at the Egmond half marathon. Brinkman won the competition in 2023 and was seen as the new Dutch super talent, but missed the Olympic Games due to injuries. Last year she finished fourth in Egmond, when she also returned from long-term injuries.
The women started the race 9 minutes and 35 seconds earlier than the men. That time is the difference between the course records for men and women. The first athlete, male or female, to reach the finish line would receive an additional prize. It went to Niyonkuru.
With a wind chill of -5 degrees, the Egmond Half Marathon this afternoon was slightly less cold than previously thought. Fortunately for the participants, the paved roads in the dunes were not frozen. There was only some frost on the grass along the path.
Brinkman – the winner of 2023 – immediately opened a big gap with Jill Holterman in a leading group of seven. It only broke up in the dunes when the pace was increased. Brinkman was able to join in, but Holterman had to let the group go. The ten kilometer mark was reached in a time of 35.25.
Brinkman was left with two Rwandan runners, Niyonkuru and Emeline Imanizabayo, but had a hard time. Not surprising after her long absence. In the final phase of the match she could no longer maintain the high pace and had to let the two go. Just after the seventeen kilometer point, Niyonkuru – who had been in the lead from the start – decided the race definitively.
Among the men, Niesten finished in second position in a leading group of nine. Suldan Hassan, the Somali-born Swedish athlete, led the race and caught most of the headwind. Khalid Choukoud was more than 150 meters behind in the second group, he had missed the boat.
The 39-year-old Choukoud participated in the Egmond half marathon for the fourteenth time, but was afraid of the temperature beforehand. “I am not made for the cold, because I grew up in North Africa,” he said at the press conference beforehand.
On the paved section in the forest, Alew stoked his legs and halfway through the race he took the lead alone. Until Hassan and Niesten overtook him after 50 minutes.
Upon arrival in the village, the final sprint was between Alew and Hassan, who lacked speed. On the straight, Alew opened up the turbo and finished in 1.03.00. Niesten, who took silver at the NK marathon last year, finished third sixteen seconds later.
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